Trust Organ Donation Bus Ads Roll Out Across GM

Trust Organ Donation Bus Ads Roll Out Across GM

15 November 2017

THE Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has commissioned four buses to be painted up with important organ donation messages in a bid to spread the word and encourage the people of Greater Manchester to think about joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

We want to get people talking about their organ donation wishes and to share their decision with their loved ones. The 'on the buses' campaign started on the 2 October and is running for a year. This is a Trust initiative supported by NHS Blood & Transplant who contributed the artwork for the campaign.

Staff at the Trust have already been sharing tweets about where they have seen the buses, which are travelling routes around our four hospitals – North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, and Rochdale Infirmary.

The Trust Organ Donation Committee came up with the idea to use buses because they reach a wide and diverse audience, including bus passengers, drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. Because the adverts are constantly on the move, it is hoped the adverts will catch the public’s eye and get them talking.

“We want people to see our bus adverts and start a conversation with their relatives and loved ones, about organ donation and what their wishes would be.

“Many people don’t know that when they die, their family will be asked to support whatever decision they have made about organ donation. Sharing your wishes with your family now will protect them from having to make a choice they aren’t sure of in the future.

“You can also record that decision to help others by joining the Organ Donor register. It is simple and only takes two minutes to do, and you could help save the lives of up to nine other people.”

“Consideration of organ donation should be a normal part of end of life care in those who are in a position to donate. Pennine Acute has an excellent track record of supporting potential donors at the end of their lives. If people tell their families they want to donate, that makes the decision a lot easier when their families are grieving."

In Greater Manchester there are 531 people waiting for a transplant and there are 887,649 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register. In Oldham there are 43 people waiting for a transplant and there are 64,237 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

In Greater Manchester, 36 people died last year (16/17) on the transplant waiting list. This includes a case where a patient was removed from the transplant list due to deterioration and then died within one year.

Right now across the UK, there are around 6,400 people in need of an organ transplant, including around 150 children and teenagers. On average three people die every day in need of a donated organ because there just aren’t enough organ donors.

We need more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register now at www.organdonation.nhs.uk. It only takes a few minutes to register and please remember to tell your family that you want them to support your decision to donate and save lives. Ask them whether they want to be donors too. #YesIDonate